New publications
Young Mexicans make inexpensive comfortable furniture out of old car tires
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, when horses were used mainly for transportation, the central streets of large cities were covered with a thick layer of horse manure. With the disappearance of horses on the roads, the problems did not decrease, and the cars that replaced horses have now become so widespread that they significantly pollute the environment.
Cars emit harmful substances into the atmosphere, are a strong source of noise, and old car tires literally fill landfills.
Young people from Mexico, extremely concerned about the state of the environment, decided to fight pollutants in their own way. A group of students began to use used tires and make quite comfortable furniture from them, and at affordable prices.
In a number of countries, old car tires are recycled and become valuable raw materials, but in Mexico there is practically no industry for recycling old tires, and the country annually dumps approximately 40 million tires.
The leader of the new project, which united all those who are not indifferent to the problem, Eduardo Rivera Alvarado said that old tires pose a real threat. First of all, due to the accumulation of rainwater in them, they become an excellent breeding ground for mosquitoes and other insects that carry infections. In addition, the smoke that forms when burning tires increases the level of greenhouse gases and is extremely harmful to human health.
Eduardo Rivera and his associates began to use old car tires as raw material for furniture production. In addition to tires, students also use other materials, in particular wood, since young people not only get rid of waste, but also create an ergonomic product that would fully satisfy the needs of buyers.
As Rivera noted, the goal of the environmental project is to attract regular customers. The project, according to young Mexicans, will help to significantly improve the state of the environment.
Not far from the capital of Mexico in Boca del Rio, the owner of a company selling car tires, Luis Gonzalez Rivas, is engaged in a similar method of recycling old car tires. The businessman is directly involved in the trade of goods that pollute the environment and claims that making a profit is not his goal, he seeks to draw people's attention to environmental issues and recycling. Initially, the idea of making furniture was only to provide the company's clients with chairs and armchairs, but the first samples were far from attractive. After some time, Gonzalez began to make various accessories for chairs, as well as flower pots and other products. In his work, he used plastic, paint, straps, vinyl and other available tools.
According to the businessman, the cost of a chair made from an old tire is around 400-500 pesos, which is almost twice the price of a regular plastic chair. But despite this, Luis Gonzalez does not intend to stop his hobby.